Every day, thousands of people die from malnutrition and starvation.
Every day, thousands of people cry out for help to their governments and non-for profits organisations.
Every single day.
As a person who grew up surrounded by good food, never in need for more and indeed sometimes having more than enough, this news saddens me greatly.
However, the current hunger crisis is man-made, and as such, it is a problem that can be resolved.
Not easily. It will require participation from all of us. Yes. All of us.
You and I both will need to get involved.
It doesn’t have to be out of your way either, if you are thinking, “Oh no, not another charity/fund/donation!”
Obviously, the easiest and fastest way would be to provide a donation to an organisation running these food aids across the world.
However, you don’t always have to give cash donations to be able to help.
This year *World Food Day coincides with **Blog Action Day 2011 #BAD11 and as such, I am participating to drive awareness of the dire situation at hand.
Just by reading this post at this moment, seeds are being planted in your head.
I have an idea for every one of my followers. Myself included. I will be doing this with you.
Today, as you prepare your meals or as you are heading out to dine, please remember just one thing.
Please do NOT waste your food.
Do not over prepare the amount of food, and do not over order.
Do not over eat.
If you have left overs, save them.
You can use the left overs for another meal the next day.
If you are dining out and like me, usually are unable to finish your meal, ask for a smaller portion. Only eat half the pasta and take home the other half. Or order something light.
Oxfam Australia is helping you “Eat Local to Feed Global” today (Sunday, October 16th). Participating restaurants across Australia can be found on the Oxfam website under Shout the Horn. Restaurants from Red Lantern in Sydney to Cumulus Inc in Melbourne will be taking part. Donations to this fund will raise money for the Horn of Africa Food Crisis Appeal.
Unfortunately, if you think this emergency crisis is only happening over in the African nation, you are wrong.
Almost 300,000 Victorians this year alone are unable to afford or access food.
If you would like to help closer to home, please visit Foodbank Victoria.
Please help spread the word. Get talking today to your friends, family, work colleagues, restaurant owners, cafe owners, chefs, waiters.
Just a simple, “Hey, have you heard about World Food Day?” will be enough to get the ball rolling.
If you want to jump on the discussion online, especially on Twitter, don’t forget to use the hash-tags #WorldFoodDay, #BAD2011 and #ShoutTheHorn.
NOTES:
*The World Food Day is celebrated by the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations every year on October 16th since its inception in 1945.
**Blog Action Day is a global event that calls for bloggers around the world (be it food, beauty, lifestyle, entertainment, photography, etc.) to focus on a different issue every year, this year being the pressing issues of food and raising awareness to the current crisis at hand concerning food shortages and price instability.
More Information:
World Food Day
The Food and Agricultural Organization of United Nations
Oxfam Australia
Shout the Horn
Foodbank Victoria
Blog Action Day
Disclaimers:
Blog Action Day 2011 badge sourced from: http://blogactionday.org/
“The F-Word” Video sourced from: http://one.org/blog/2011/10/07/celebrate-blog-action-day-2011-with-us/
“Shout the Horn” banner sourced from: www.oxfam.org.au
World Food Day logo sourced from: http://www.fao.org/
Foodbank Victoria logo sourced from: http://www.vrfb.com.au/
“Do not over prepare the amount of food, and do not over order.” <- This one is easy for me.
"Do not over eat." <- Must. Stop. Peanut Butter. Bingeing…
YES YOU MUST!!! Though a difficult thing…
I’ll have to ask fakegf if she wanna eat at one of the participating outlets tonight. 🙂 Or I can just eat my frugal gnao lam (from beef off cuts) at home. ;D
Did you end up going out? Nice to just stay at home and donate the “what you would have spent” money too 🙂
They’re great tips and I think would do well for us to do it from now on even after the campaign is over 🙂
Yes I agree… it’s a lifetime thing really 🙂
Nice post! I do try to be mindful of what I consume, even if I occasionally slip up. Will tweet about this when I get home from work. 🙂
I know, it’s so hard to remember sometimes..practice makes perfect!
Great share, I-Hua. I work in philanthropy, and my Foundation is very much focused on projects that fill fridges for families in need. It’s amazing what we can do at home — really simple steps — to make sure we reduce food waste. Thanks for sharing some of your tips!
What a great job you have! One small step will lead to bigger ones 🙂
Yes yes yes! I tend to be guilty of this as well so thanks for putting things into perspective. It’s great that you’re using your voice on this space for something so important as this! Good stuff, I-Hua!
Thanks Winston!!!! If I get just one person starting to think about this and acting.. I would have achieved something 🙂